PRINCETON — In the closing minutes of Lawrence’s 35-3 win at Princeton High Saturday, several of the Cardinals’ defensive players were joking on the bench about how the headlines would be “Semei Mitchell Carries Lawrence Again!”.

While the junior running back was a big factor — scoring three of the five Lawrence touchdowns — the headline could just as easily be,“Cardinals Defense Dominates.”

In a game in which the Cardinals (3-2) eventually pulled away from a determined but overmatched Princeton squad, the defense harassed Little Tigers senior quarterback Zack DiGregorio all game and limited Princeton to just 34 yards rushing and seven first downs.

“We always play together as a family. We’re just one whole that comes together,” said lineman Antwan Ellerbe, one of the Cardinals’ captains. “In practice we grind real hard and then we just get the job done.”

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The Cardinals got on the board on their opening drive when quarterback Nick Falkenberg hit Cameren Kitchen on a 22-yard fade pattern on 4th-and-13, completing a 68-yard scoring drive.

“We came in trying to isolate me on the backside. We saw that the corners were in single coverage press man and Coach Radice called the play and we went deep,” said Kitchen.

The Little Tigers (1-4), who were blanked in their two previous games, drove right back down the field and scored when junior Callahan O’Meara connected on a 32-yard field goal to cut the lead to 7-3.

The Princeton defense was also doing a nice job on Mitchell, limiting him to 33 yards on his first seven carries — the bulk of which came on a 33-yard run on his second carry of the game.

“It started to get frustrating. I like to get to the outside and they started keying on that. Coach Radice noticed that and we all noticed it. Alright so they know we’re trying to go outside so we went right up the middle,” said Mitchell, who finally broke loose halfway through the second quarter. “We did a weak-side (isolation)— I saw a hole and made a cutback and Devon Hewitt got the block and I just kept going.”

Sixty-eight yards later, the Cardinals had a 14-3 lead that they would never relinquish, as the defense took over.

“It was a lot of sacks and a lot of tackles behind the line of scrimmage. I remember one play, Michael Holland, it seemed like he was in the backfield before the quarterback even took a step back,” said Mitchell. “They had great pressure and just got us the ball three-and-out.”

After two short runs for touchdowns by Mitchell and Kitchen, the Cardinals put things to rest with a long pass from Falkenberg to Mitchell for an 88-yard score early in the fourth quarter.

“I told him you made me tired. He launched that up and I had to go chase that one down. I had given the defender a good fake and I was wide open. He just gave it to me and it was a perfect throw,” said Mitchell.

So maybe the headline should read — Mitchell, Falkenberg, Kitchen and the Cardinals defense lead Lawrence.